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Czech President Vaclav Klaus to Speak at Wilson Center

Due to technical difficulties, the webcast scheduled for today has been cancelled. A video of the president's speech will be available on this site soon.

Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, will speak at the fourth annual Czech and Slovak Lecture Series.

The lecture series was initiated by the former ambassadors to the U.S. of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in order to commemorate these countries’ legacy in the struggle for freedom.

This event is being co-sponsored by the Czech and Slovak Embassies.

Vaclav Klaus was elected President of the Czech Republic on February 28, 2003, becoming the second president after former President Vaclav Havel’s term expired. Previously, he held the post of Prime Minister after the Civic Democrats’ victory in the 1992 elections and was subsequently re-appointed in July 1996. He resigned from the post in November 1997 after the break-up of the government coalition. After the early parliamentary elections in July 1998, Vaclav Klaus was elected as chairman of the lower house of Parliament.

As president, Klaus is leading his country into the EU along with the 9 others slated for membership for May 2004, although he remains skeptical about how EU membership will affect the Czech Republic and other new members from Central and Eastern Europe. Vaclav Klaus has received sixteen honorary doctorates in nine countries; nineteen international awards and has published over twenty books.

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Christian F. Ostermann // Director, History and Public Policy Program; Global Europe; Cold War International History Project; North Korea Documentation Project; Nuclear Proliferation International History Project